Return to Melbourne......

This morning I'm going to be flying back from Brisbane to Melbourne. I've had a wonderful time in Brisbane with Ken and Leanne and it is hard to believe that I've been here for less than two days. The city of Brisbane is stunning and Ken took me on a great tour of it yesterday. We rode the "city cat" (catamaran) around the edge of dowtown Brisbane and I got some video that turned out really well. And last night we spent some time hanging out with a few of the folks from Ken & Leanne's community City Weslyan Church. We had dinner together and spent a little bit of time talking about the challenges of being together in community and how we sustain our vision for Kingdom work when times (inevitably) get tough and relationships (inevitably) sour or hit rough patches. It was a great time and a good reminder to me of how few answers that I have to any of these ongoing struggles in faithfulness; a lot of years of (mostly) hard earned experience, a little bit of wisdom, and a small bit of perspective, but not a whole lot of definitive answers. I'm not sure that there are many "answers" beyond the continuing commitment to pursue solidarity together in justice and in love, no matter the difficulties. This is one thing that I'm finding as I travel to different places around the world. No matter where you go there is one thing that is common; people around the world struggle to keep their dreams of the Kingdom alive in the midst of disappointment, disillusionment, squabbles with each other, the inflated egos of some, and the constant pressure that we all face from the callous disregard for life and the future that we regularly see. We need to be renewed in hope daily, and we cannot give in to the constant temptation to be cynical about each other, the world around us, or the God whom we profess to serve. We must keep hope alive and belief in the goodness and value of doing the right thing no matter the apparent landscape. As Jurgen Moltmann says in his book "Theology of Hope," we must hold onto the "Promissio Dei," the promises of God, just as much as we hold onto the "Missio Dei," the mission of God in the world; these two things are ultimately one and we have to keep believing in them as we move forward together.